Jags sweep Xavier in conference series, push streak to seven games

It may have been a day late, but UHV's Levi Whitlock got to celebrate his 22^nd birthday in style.

The senior outfielder went 5-for-7 with three RBIs and his first home run of the season in Sunday's doubleheader to help the Jaguars complete a three-game sweep of Red River Athletic Conference foe Xavier (La.) at Riverside Stadium.

UHV (16-6, 5-4) won Game 1 of Sunday's twinbill 11-2 before taking Game 2 10-1.

"That's a very good late birthday present," Whitlock said. "I was excited. I'm glad we could get our guys up and produce. I hope we can take this momentum into next week."

Whitlock opened the scoring for the Jaguars in Game 2 Sunday with his solo home run to left field and finished a triple shy of the cycle. It was the first homer for the Alvin native since Feb. 4, 2023, against Mid-America Christian.

Over the last four games, Whitlock has produced three multi-hit games while batting in the bottom third of the lineup for the Jaguars.

"The bottom of the order, if you get somebody hitting well and flip it over to the top, I think we're gonna be pretty good," said UHV coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "Today we were. Levi has been grinding a little bit and is starting to find his way. He's got to stick to that and he's gonna be really good for us. I'm proud of him today."

Whitlock was one of five Jaguars to record multi-hit performances in either of the two games Sunday with Hayden Leopold, Raul Lopez, Hal Perez and Juan Perez joining the fun on a day when UHV combined for 25 hits.

With hits in each of Sunday's games, Leopold is now sitting on a seven-game hitting streak while Lopez tied the team-lead with an eight-game hitting streak.

"You like to see the hard work pay off," Stavinoha said. "It's about understanding and executing the offensive side of it."

Freshman Jacob Baker and Senior Julian Garcia picked up the wins on the mound Sunday.

Baker came on in Game 1 Sunday to throw five innings of scoreless relief for Brady Parker, who went two innings and only allowed a pair of unearned runs. The Cuero native improved to 5-0 on the mound this season with two of those coming out of the bullpen.

"(My mindset) doesn't really change," Baker said. "I just know I have get up there and throw strikes, and trust my defense. They have my back. So, I have full trust in everybody out there."

Baker (1.64), Garcia (2.13) and Parker (2.32) occupy the top three spots on the RRAC ERA leaderboard.

"He's a Swiss Army Knife and able to do multiple things," Stavinoha said of Baker. "It doesn't matter when he's called. He's always going to come in and give you a shot. I can't say enough about him."

The Jaguars kick off a four-game road trip next week with a Wednesday tilt against NCAA Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6 p.m. Wednesday.